Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Prospect Capital Advisors LLC

Prospect Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 27.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,720 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,215 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.0% of Prospect Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Prospect Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,735,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to highlight Microsoft’s Azure expansion, accelerating Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption, and the company’s ability to sustain double-digit earnings growth. Microsoft’s latest quarter also exceeded expectations, with revenue of approximately $90 billion and earnings growth supported by Azure. Microsoft’s Cloud Gains Can Sustain Double-Digit Earnings Growth
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its Microsoft price target to $625, citing stronger Copilot demand and accelerating infrastructure investment. Other analysts remain bullish, with a six-month median target near $540, reinforcing investor confidence in Microsoft’s long-term AI positioning. JPMorgan Raises Microsoft Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is combining its consumer and enterprise Copilot applications into a unified platform, potentially improving distribution, user engagement, and monetization as it competes with ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. Microsoft Unifies Copilot Applications
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft approved the first AI data-center deployment under its $9.7 billion agreement with IREN, supporting Azure capacity expansion. The deal improves supply visibility but also underscores Microsoft’s substantial capital requirements. IREN Delivers First AI Cloud Deployment
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Microsoft’s roughly $175 billion AI infrastructure spending plan could pressure free cash flow and cloud margins. A reported decline in cloud gross margin and higher data-center, chip, electricity, and labor costs raise questions about how much of the company’s large AI backlog will translate into profit. Microsoft’s AI Backlog and Profitability Concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft has closed at least 15 China offices and joint ventures add geopolitical and operational uncertainty, although Azure reportedly provides a profitable reason to retain a limited China presence. Microsoft Retreats in China

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,810 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.48, for a total transaction of $2,388,068.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,188,276.96. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total value of $7,145,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,928,792.23. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 37,310 shares of company stock valued at $17,256,219 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group set a $525.00 price target on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $490.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Forty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.27.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $495.40 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $411.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $408.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $349.20 and a fifty-two week high of $553.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software giant reported $4.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.50. Microsoft had a return on equity of 31.98% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business had revenue of $90.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 20.27%.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).